PBS高端访谈:关于美国代表团在里约奥运会上的展望

 　　GWEN IFILL:There are warnings about the risk of contaminated waterways, and the dispute continues between anti-doping officials and the chief of the International Olympic Committee over Russia's participation¹.

　　That said, there's excitement around the actual competition.

　　Jeffrey Brown got a preview of U.S. medal hopes with Christine Brennan, sportswriter and columnist² for USA Today and ABC News.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Christine Brennan, welcome back.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN, USA Today: Thanks, Jeff. Great to be here.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: So, there's a certain point we talk about all the problems, but a certain point, let the games begin, right?

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Exactly. It's time.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: So, let's talk about athletics³ here.

　　Often, Summer Olympics, Americans, and we have talk over the years about especially gymnastics, swimming and other things.

　　Start with gymnastics, another big year coming.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Oh, absolutely.

　　In fact, it may be the biggest year ever for USA gymnastics, especially the women's side, Jeff, which is saying something, because U.S. women have become the dominant⁴ gymnasts in the world, going back to the days of Mary Lou Retton, Shannon Miller⁵, obviously Gabby Douglas.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Just last time.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Right. Exactly. And she's back. She did make it and will be a steadying influence, I think, and helpful to the next big names.

　　So, in this list of names I just mentioned, there is another one coming, maybe the best of all, Simone Biles. She has won everything.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Maybe the best — she is coming in already talked about as one of the best ever. Right?

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Exactly.

　　And, in fact, she's so good that everyone just is basically handing her the gold medal for the individual all-around. Team gold medal should be the United States', no problem. And then…JEFFREY BROWN: So, no pressure at all, right?

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Well, and that's the point, though. It's a great point.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: She did stumble at the Olympic trials.

　　Everything was set. She was going to make the team. And she had a couple uncharacteristic bobbles and a fall. And, as you know, from watching sports, as everyone at home knows, just when you think you know it's solid and it's guaranteed, is there going to be a crack here?

　　I think she is so good and so strong, and because she's won world title after world title, the top gymnast in the world the last three or four years, I would be stunned⁶ if Simone Biles has a misstep. But that's a tall order. And it's also over a week-and-a-half basically of events, and we will see how she handles that pressure.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: OK.

　　Swimming, return of two big stars, right?

　　Michael Phelps, to my amazement⁷, I read it's his fifth Olympics coming back.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Right.

　　Yes, he was a 15-year-old in 2000 — most people forget that — in Sydney. He's now 31 years old. He's a dad, and he says he has cleaned up his act. He's had issues of course with drunk driving and other things. This is it. It's his last gasp⁸.

　　关于美国代表团在里约奥运会上的展望

　　JEFFREY BROWN: He says this is really it.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: This is really it, as opposed to the other time when he was retiring the last time.

　　But Phelps is still at one — certainly the best in the United States at what he does, the 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly. Whether — the key question, Jeff, is whether he's the best in the world. And his times in Omaha at the Olympic swimming trials a month or so ago were not the best in the world. They were not his best.

　　So, the question is, for Michael Phelps, can he get better, can he get faster? Otherwise, while we just expect him to win everything, it might be a little bit of a surprise. Maybe he will win the 100 fly, which is an incredible achievement, 200 fly. But the reality is, there is a lot of competition from around the world, and these guys would love to beat Michael Phelps.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And on the women's side, Katie Ledecky.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Oh, Katie Ledecky is gold.

　　Now, that's — I think if you said to me, what would be the most surprising to happen at the Olympics in terms of a U.S. athlete, it would be Katie Ledecky not winning.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Really?

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: She should be five seconds, six seconds ahead in the 400, 11 seconds ahead in the 800 freestyle. She has also got the 200 free. And then she would have the 4×200 relay.

　　So, if everything goes well for Katie Ledecky, it would be four gold medals, the most for any American, I'm sure, at these Games in terms of swimming, and she will really come out of the Olympics — if all that happens, she will come out of the Olympics as the swimming star of the Games for the U.S.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: OK.

　　So, if we look — now I want to switch to track and field. And there the doping scandal has an impact. But start first with Usain Bolt.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Yes. He is back, right.

　　He is trying to do a triple double.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: A triple double, yes.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: We hear that all the time in basketball.

　　Here's the triple double in track and field, Jeff. It's winning the men's 100 and the men's 200 in three consecutive⁹ Olympics. Beijing, he did it. People remember how he finishes the race, by turning around and jumping up and down, and looking at his competitors, and dancing while he's still running, and has these incredible times, and then he did it again in London.

　　So, here he is. He will be 30 years old on the day the Games end. That's not exactly a spring chicken.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Has had some injuries.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: And he had a hamstring pull just a few weeks ago. He says he's healthy. We will see.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Now, the Russian doping scandal, we know has an impact already in the track and field, right?

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: We do. Yes.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And what impact would it have?

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Well, I think it's a big one.

　　Here's the reality. The Russian track and field team is banned, except for one lone¹⁰ long jumper. So, the fact that they were second in the medal count in London, Jeff, in track and field, they had won seven gold and they won 16 medals overall.

　　And those medals now are gone. They are just not going to be able to win them. So, while I personally believe Russia should have been banned completely, the entire team, for state-sponsored, government-sponsored systemic doping, the likes of which we have not seen since East Germany 40, 50 years ago, the reality is Russia is in the Games.

　　But track and field is where the federation¹¹ said, no, we're not going to allow this cheating system, this incredible, diabolical¹² system to get into our sports. So, the track and field federation kicked out the Russians. And that's where you will see, I think, a significant impact in terms of the lack of Russian medals, obviously.

　　And the U.S. and other countries will benefit from that.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Speaking of medals, right, let's look at just some big picture here in our last minute.

　　More women competing and medal count, give me a look at the big picture when you watch these Games.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Right.

　　Jeff, we called the 2012 U.S. team Team Title IX. Well, we can call this team, the 2016 team, Team Title IX as well, the most women ever by any country being sent to the Olympics. The U.S. is sending 292 women out of a team of 555.

　　That is all about watching that law, Title IX, signed in 1972 by Richard Nixon, work its way through our culture. And the power of U.S. women will be extraordinary, team sports, dominating basketball, maybe soccer, water polo, others, the rowing.

　　And then as far as medal count…

　　JEFFREY BROWN: The basketball team hasn't — you were telling me before, right, hasn't lost since…CHRISTINE BRENNAN: The women's basketball team hasn't lost since 1992.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Yes.

　　And one of the reasons people don't know is this is because they're so dominant, that the media tends to go, oh, give them the gold medal and move on to other sports.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Right. They won again.

　　And women's soccer, of course, will be a big deal as well. And then, as far as the medal count, the U.S. should do as it usually does at the Summer Games and dominate, especially with Russia being down, understandably so, correctly. I think the U.S. will do very well.

　　China will be there. It will be interesting to see if Great Britain, which had a great Games, home Games, four years ago, if they can keep that up and continue to win medals in sports where no one expected them to do that in 2012. Can they keep it up now when they go to Rio in 2016?

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Christine Brennan, enjoy yourself down there.

　　CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Thank you, Jeff. I will. Thanks.

 

1 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

2 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

3 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

4 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

5 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

6 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

7 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

8 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

9 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

10 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

11 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

12 diabolical   

adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的

参考例句：

• This maneuver of his is a diabolical conspiracy.他这一手是一个居心叵测的大阴谋。
• One speaker today called the plan diabolical and sinister.今天一名发言人称该计划阴险恶毒。